Much discussed these last days, the Pope disregarded the rubrics surrounding the washing of feet.
Also much discussed, the Pope has rejected tradition in multiple other very visible ways.
Also, widely reported is the Pope’s commentary that the Church should not be inwardly focused.
It is not my intent here to discuss whether the Pope is right or wrong, authorized or not, to do what he has done. Father Z and Ed Peters do an excellent job of summing this up and I recommend you read it. My concern now is elsewhere.
The Pope’s disregard for established law and rubrics coupled with his statements has an effect and I am afraid it is not all good.
I fear that the Pope is inadvertently setting people in the Church against each other.
This is how the Pope’s actions are now being framed in the popular mindset:
If you think that law and rubrics are there for a reason, the reason being the order and good of the Church and the faithful, and you are troubled about the violations then you are part of the problem. You are one of the inwardly focused people that the Pope is trying wrest the Church back from. If you think that law, rubrics, and tradition matter, you are the other–you are the problem. You are not humble and simple like the Pope. You are the past.
If, on the other hand, law, rubrics, and majesty in the worship of God have never been your thing, then life is good. The Pope, by example if not by word, is validating your worldview. You have never really cared about such things and have often violated them. The Pope has just shown that, as you always suspected, these things don’t really matter, that things like law, rubrics, and majesty hinder evangelization and are simply the products of an inwardly focused Church. You are part of future Church.
But this unfortunately sets the good of the Church against itself, truly a house divided. This division makes its way down to the people. Look how quickly that happened forty years ago.
Is it alright, in the name of simplicity, for a Catholic not to go to Church on Sunday as long as he keeps the day holy in some way? Why not?
If you think that abstaining from meat on Fridays is silly and anachronistic and a sign of an inwardly focused Church, can you dispense with it if you abstain from something with more meaning to you? Why not?
Which laws, rubrics, and traditions still matter? Which are still binding?
But see, if you even ask the question, then you are part of the problem and part of the past.
I don’t believe that this is the intent of the Holy Father, but to some degree it is already the result. If Pope Francis continues to show disregard for law, rubrics, and tradition, I fear this dreadful result.
There are many things the Pope can change, law and rubrics among them. If the Pope wishes to change them, he should do so properly. For one thing the Pope cannot change is human nature. Disregard for the law breeds only more disregard for the law.
[Note. I love the Pope and want him to succeed. I think renewed focus on the poor is wonderful and I support it wholeheartedly. But I do not accept, as some would have you believe, that law, rubrics, and tradition must be thrown overboard to achieve this renewed focus on the poor. I don’t think the Pope supports this either, but I fear some of his actions give encouragement to those who do.]
March 30, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Pope Francis's gesture has been appreciated around the world. Here are a few letters from youths incarcerated in Los Angeles.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2013/03/letters-to-pope-francis-from-prison-thank-you-for-washing-the-feet-of-youth-like-us/
As for the concern over the rubrics, I think I remember that being an issue before…
http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13/10
March 30, 2013 at 1:31 pm
Thank for proving my point.
March 30, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Pope Francis washed the feet of juveniles in detention, in prison. This is not the traditional washing of the feet as ritual of Holy Thursday before Christ ordained the Apostles. …and Pope Francis may have skipped the traditional church washing of the feet to call attention to those in prison. His choice.
March 30, 2013 at 1:41 pm
On Maundy Thursday, (sp), Queen Elizabeth goes into the ghettos and gives money to the indigent and poverty stricken as a sign of community. Walls do not a prison make.
I will read Peters and Father Z.
March 30, 2013 at 1:51 pm
I am thrilled that Pope Francis washed the feet of women, no problem there, beautiful in fact.
But huge problem that within hours, from the Altar Thurs evening, a Priest is literally, in a disgusted tone, bashing Benedict for "only washing 12 Priests feet". So as the tectonic plates on continents are shifting, and fault lines deepen and their length is extended, as they say in L.A., it's just a matter of time before "the big one" hits. What that will mean for the physical Church no one knows.
All I know is I was shocked at the Priest's deliberate attempt to denigrate Benedict, a truly humble man that has given his entire being to the Church, and thus us.
March 30, 2013 at 1:53 pm
Ok, so I always preface my comments with the caveat that I'm a new Catholic. I will have been confirmed two years on May 1. That being said, while I am much more sympathetic to the pro- traditionalists, I don't have a foothold in either camp of the liturgical wars. I know that the joyful reaction of the liberals is upsetting (and it bother me, too). But honestly, they were going to ignore the rubrics anyway. They don't care that Pope Francis is doing his own thing. They only care about his actions in as far as they can use them to further their own hobby horses. If he had done the same old thing they would twist that to their cause as well ("stuffy old Medieval church hates wymminses, and that's why we just have to do it our way," etc and so on).
What I do think, looking at this as a very recent outsider, is that the traddies who are generally more faithful to the letter of what the Church teaches in my observations, maybe need to unclench just a bit so they can be simultaneously faithful to the spirit of those teachings.
Just from reading the trad blogs since the pope's election I will tell you that a lot of the traddies come across as caring more about the liturgy than about the rest of Catholicism. I don't think either Mssrs. Archbold give that impression and neither does Father Z, for which I am greatly thankful. But when I see comments about the Holy Father's "sins against the liturgy" (which I saw in a comment on this blog about a week ago) or how we are going to be forced into the catacombs because the pope didn't wear the Mozzetta (saw that one several times from commenters at Father Z's place) and all sorts of speculation about sedevacatism (in the comments at Rorate) it makes me think that there are folks out there that are so obsessed with the liturgy that they have completely lost sight of the point of what we're doing here to begin with. And I think Father Z is right in pointing out that there are a lot of trads who are missing the forest for the trees and that maybe Pope Francis is trying to remind us that there's a big forest out here.
I read a piece by The Anchoress a week or so ago that really stuck with me. She said something along the lines of Pope Emeritus Benedict was our brain for the last eight years, he taught us how to think about our faith. And maybe now Pope Francis is showing us how to live the faith. Like the graphic that's been going around Facebook with a pic of JPII that says hope, next to one of PE Benedict that said faith, next to one of Pope Francis that says charity.
I think that it will ultimately turn out that Pope Francis is showing us how to live out the things we learned from the past two pontiffs and that is a lesson I sorely need. I imagine a lot of other for do as well.
March 30, 2013 at 2:03 pm
I was just reading a book about St. Margaret Clitherow this morning. One of the events in the book had to do with some imprisoned priests during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.. Some of them were Jesuits who wanted to celebrate Christmas in a very austere manner. The others were priests ordained under Mary's reign who wanted to celebrate Christmas in their more traditional fashion. There was great discord and a feeling that the Jesuits were simply parading their piety and sacrifice. The Jesuits felt the other priests weren't being sacrificial enough.These men were all under the threat of martyrdom, their country was suffering from a tremendous anti-Catholic persecution, yet they could still bicker about the way their spirituality was being expressed. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
March 30, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Having seen and lived through the"fruits" of Vatican II, I am not a fan of "Oh, let's change stuff so the world will like us better." I completely agree with your point and this pope, so far, is doing what I feared he would do — become myopic on the poor and forget that there are many more disenfranchised folks in the world — like the faithful Catholics who have had to watch the Church do nothing while Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and Kathleen Sebelius make the world safe for any and all abortions. Like Jesus said, the poor we will always have with us. Apparently the same is true for pro-abortion politicians in the communion line.
March 30, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Your piece succinctly highlights some of the implications and consequences of a Pope breaking the laws of the Church. It can never increase the faith though it can please those with erroneous ideas of the Faith. We need to pray and do penance more than ever before. The laws exist to preserve the Deposit of Faith.
March 30, 2013 at 2:20 pm
I think you're seeing divisions coming to the surface that are very real, but I don't think Pope Francis is to blame for causing those divisions. Pope Francis' real humility and his departure from the rubrics and majesty are undoubtedly making many lapsed Catholics and even outsiders pay attention to the Church like they haven't in years, if ever. Catholicism is, in effect, new to them.
But once those people pay attention, they are going to see the beauty of the Catholic faith, including the beliefs they may not be drawn to immediately, beliefs Pope Francis is not going to change because he is, like all Popes, Catholic.
I've seen the same divisions you have among people I know and in my case, the people who wrongly cite Francis as a rejection of Catholicism are either political liberals who have always wanted the Church to change into something horrible that it isn't and never was or people sympathetic to the Jesuits who always picked and chosen which aspects of Church teaching to accept and which to ignore or rail against. In all cases I've seen, those people have also expressed disappointment that Pope Francis is "conservative," which as we know is inaccurate. Popes aren't conservative. Popes aren't liberal. Popes are Catholic.
And those who expect to see an un-Catholic Pope are and will continue to be disappointed. The cause of the divisions we are seeing, which I think have been there for a long time, are the people who were always uncomfortable and/or hostile to Church teaching anyway. I don't think our Pope is causing responsible.
But what our Pope is causing is a reality where people are giving our faith a second look. And because our faith is beautiful and true, it is also powerful and I think and hope that Pope Francis will ultimately attract more and more faithful Catholics into the Church, even if those disinclined to join start kicking and screaming along the way.
March 30, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Yes. Exactly — all you say, Patrick, so well said. It's frustrating when those have been disobedient to Church rubrics are affirmed in their disobedience while those who have suffered in being faithful get rebuked. It hurts when our Father in the Faith does this.
March 30, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Great post! Even if the Holy Father wants to convey points, be it humility, evangelization, or other good, can he not do this without disregard for the rubrics or tradition?
March 30, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Couldn't agree more with this post–you nailed it.
March 30, 2013 at 3:06 pm
I will be honest with you readers:I have been uneasy with this man since the day of his
election and all the wrong signs he has been putting out (whether he is aware of it or not). Not choosing to live in the Apostolic Palace is what did it for me because NO modern Pope including John XXIII or even John Paul I refused to live there. He was not part of the Council so this may be why he feels he can do whatever he wants. It's confusing the Faithful and the Message preached was "OUT WITH THE OLD"
March 30, 2013 at 3:16 pm
I hope I'm not drifting off topic in agreeing with Katalina and several others about the implied criticism of Pope Benedict, a holy man who has always lived a modest life. The Papal apartments are IN the palace, but they are a few simple rooms in what is otherwise an office building. From the (unnamed) popular press a naïve reader might get the idea that Papa Benedict was an irresponsible wastrel with other people's money, rather like an (unnamed) political leader.
March 30, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Fr. Lombardi implied that if the foot-washing had taken place in a major public venue like St. Peter's, the traditional custom of wasing the feet of 12 priests would have remained. The fact that it took place in a small, semi-private venue was not meant to signify a significant change in law. That, at least, is some comfort.
I agree, Patrick, with your commentary. I've seen the remarks from well-meaning but frankly judgmental Catholics who mock those of us who show concern for obedience to the rubrics, as if we place the law above the spirit. If it weren't for the fact that we've already had 50 years of damaging liturgical innovation by creative pastors who felt themselves above the law, I wouldn't be so concerned. I don't think Pope Francis has any secret agenda to wreck the liturgy or tinker with doctrine–but his actions have no doubt given a shot in the arm to disobedient clerics who will now feel justified in their disobedience to the rubrics.
March 30, 2013 at 3:55 pm
I'm a "Say the Black, Do the Red" celebrant of the Church's liturgies. The Holy Father's free-lancing of the rubrics doesn't bother me in the least. The rubrics are still there to be followed, and should be followed. Nothing has changed. I'm not the Pope (Deo gratias!), so I have no authority to change the rites. . .and neither does anyone else.
We need some ecclesial docility right now. Let the Holy Father teach us.
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
March 30, 2013 at 4:14 pm
Perhaps as the liturgical abuses grow, and it seems they will. More and more people will be drawn to the TLM, where they do not have to tolerate such liturgical wars.
March 30, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Really Anon? I've met few who live the TLM who aren't downright belligerent when the mention of Vatican II comes up. Most of them are ignorant of the documents themselves, and are hypocrites compared to those who "go for the spirit of Vatican II" They're so busy fighting against that spirit they take no time to understand the majesty of Tradition that is found in these same teachings and documents.
That having been said. Is it a greater sign of humility for the Pope to wash the feet of women in service, or to follow the rubrics of the Mass during this (optional) Rite? Really, in retrospect, couldn't he have done both? Hmmm….
March 30, 2013 at 4:44 pm
Pro-RH, pro-abortion, liberation theology are all done in the name of charity and service for the poor, that is why charity must always be tempered with obedience; Or else self-righteousness will prevail and we can miss out on the Truth. Pope Francis was said to be a strong and assertive person, so he knows what he is doing. I can't second guess his reasons.
As for the anchoress comment that BXVI taught as how to think of our faith and Francis is teaching us how to live it— that would be a heartbreaking comment for any teacher. But we have the deposit of faith, the cathechism, the canons – each one can still live the faith accordingly and faithfully in communion with each other and Christ.